Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined 10 other attorneys general in filing an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court concerning federal environmental reviews for hazardous waste projects.
The case, Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guåhan, asks whether the federal government must complete an environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act before seeking a permit to dispose of hazardous waste.
The case involves an Air Force proposal to destroy munitions on a beach in Guam. The federal government argues that a NEPA review is not required because it completed a permit application under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
The brief argues that the RCRA permit process considers a narrower range of environmental concerns than NEPA and takes place at a different stage of the approval process.
NEPA requires the federal government to analyze environmental impacts, consider less harmful alternatives and obtain public input before making a decision. The RCRA process evaluates the government’s selected waste disposal method and does not require the study of alternatives.
Brown was joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.
